


To the End

by wishiwaugh



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: A boy and his dog, BUT GOOD, Character Death, Dog - Freeform, Gen, I cried while writing this, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Originally Posted on Tumblr, References to Depression, Short Story, Writing Prompt, im really proud of it, its sad, no joke, plz enjoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15410064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wishiwaugh/pseuds/wishiwaugh
Summary: Short story based on this prompt by writing-prompt-s on Tumblr:When people become sad, the invisible Loneliness monster appears, and long term exposure is lethal, causing several people to go mad. Thankfully, we have the Animal Corps, which goes about sharing happiness all around the globe. Write about the first mission of a new Animal Corps member.





	To the End

One of my first memories was the day I went home with my human. He was still a young one, who came with his two grownups. I was playing with my siblings when he picked me up and hugged me hard, I didn’t like it, and scratched my ears, I liked that. He rocked me back and forth as his two grownups smiled down at him. They said some things to my mom’s humans and then we left. I squirmed and whined because I didn’t get to say goodbye to my family, but the young one held me firm as we got into his grownups’ car.

When the door closed, he set me down next him and reached for a bag filled with treats, feeding them to me until we got to his home. When we got there, he clipped something around my neck that was attached to a long rope, so I could walk next to him. He led me inside the house and my tail wagged as I tried to sniff at all the new smells. He showed me my bed, my toys, my food and water, and the big outside I could run in without the rope. He sat next to me and I jumped into his lap, licking his hands and face and everything I could reach, because he was my human now, and this was my home, and I couldn’t be happier.

As we grew together, he taught me many things, like where to potty so his grownups didn’t get mad, and tricks that made him laugh and give me treats. We would go to the big outside every day and play lots of games until we were both tired. Sometimes we would go outside the big outside, where I had to wear the rope. Those were my favorite days, because there were so many smells to sniff and new friends to meet.

One day, it changed. He didn’t come to the big outside with me anymore, he just opened the door for me to go by myself. I saw him and one of his grownups sit together on the couch and cry many days. I didn’t see my human’s other grownup anymore. There was a jar that smelled kinda like them, but it smelled like fire too and I didn’t like it. After a while, my human didn’t cry anymore, but he was still sad. I didn’t like it when my human was sad.

Soon, a thing started to follow him around. It was a big, black thing with long, sharp claws and dirty, smelly fur. One day when my human was crying again, it came very close to him until it was almost touching and I knew somehow that it would be very bad if it touched him, so I ran to him as fast as I could and jumped into his lap, staring at the monster to scare it away. I knew I might get in trouble for being on the couch, but protecting my human was more important.

That was my first battle of many with the monster. Some days, my human could make it go away on his own, but other days, he couldn’t leave his bed, so I would lay with him, vigilantly guarding him from the monster that fed off his sadness. Sometimes, my human was happy, so the monster was small and easy to scare, but there were times that my human was so overcome that the monster filled the entire room. Regardless, I stayed with him and never let the monster touch him.

After a few months, my human’s grownup gave him an orange bottle filled with something to help him control the monster. He was able to fend off the monster by himself more often, and when the monster got big, it didn’t fill the room as much anymore. He had the energy to go to the big outside and play with me again. I was proud of him for becoming so strong, but I still stayed with him, just in case.

As the years went on, my human stopped growing. The monster didn’t come by anymore and other humans would come home with him. Sometimes, I wasn’t allowed in his room when the other humans were there, so I spent more and more of my days with his grownup instead. I missed him.

One day, I went into his room and all of his things were in big, brown boxes. The next day, all of the boxes were gone and my human left with them. At first, I thought he left like his other grownup, but there was no crying and no jar that smelled like fire. He must have just gone on a trip, he did that sometimes, which means he’s coming back. I missed him.

Without my human there for me to protect, I noticed how it hurt to run and play like I used to and my body ached when I laid down. I was much more tired than I used to be and, without my human, I felt sad. I missed him.

The monster came back. It was smaller, faster, harder to see than when my human was here. But my human had been gone for a long time, why was the monster back? I looked at my human’s grownup, but they weren’t crying. They hadn’t been sad for a long time. I looked back at the monster as it flitted back and forth in my vision. It was here for me.

It was hard to fight the monster when I was its target, but I did. I fought as hard as I could, because I wouldn’t give up without seeing my human again. I missed him.

One day that felt like an eternity later, my human came home. I was so happy. I jumped on him and licked and barked and whined. He hugged me and scratched my ears and took me to the big outside to play. The smile fell from his face when he saw how I limped when I ran and fetched much slower than before. I didn’t want him to be sad though, so I jumped on him and licked until he was smiling and laughing again.

The next few days were heaven. My human was home and he was happy, so happy. He had brought home another human that was very kind to his grownup and me. He would touch his face to this human the same way he did to his grownup and me, something he did out of love. He loved this human and this human loved him back. That made me happy. This human would take care of mine when he got sad, just like I did as he was growing up.

My last memories were the day that my human took me for a drive, just me and him. We went to the beach and played in the water, and then we got hamburgers and ice cream and ate them at my favorite park. It was a fun day, but my human seemed reserved, he didn’t laugh loudly or smile fully. When we got back home, there was a new human wearing white with a black box in their hand. They smelled funny and petted me roughly. I didn’t like them.

I laid down on my bed and my human, his grownup and the human he loved sat down next to me. He pulled me into his lap, scratched my ears, and held me as the human in white grabbed my scruff and poked me with something. It made me feel funny and I didn’t like it. I tried to growl, but I was so tired, so, so tired. My human hugged me and cried into my fur. The human he loved and his grownup hugged him and I saw the monster, lurking behind them, trying to make one last appearance, vanish in a plume of dust, gone for good.

I had done my duty. I protected my human to the end. The monster was gone and, if it ever tried to come back, he had others to protect him now. I felt a warm darkness envelop me and I looked up at my human one last time, giving him a weak whine as my final send off.

He smiled through the tears, “Good boy. I’m gonna miss you, buddy.”

Me too.

**Author's Note:**

> Link to the post on Tumblr: https://angstyteeninthegayscene.tumblr.com/post/176192655143/writing-prompt-s-when-people-become-sad-the
> 
> Hope you like it!  
> tumblr: angstyteeninthegayscene  
> instagram/twitter: wishiwaugh


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